1. art and entertainment
2. books and literature

1
Senior Summer Reading
for the 2013-2014 school year
Cover Sheet
Senior English:
- 1 Assigned Book – The Alchemist (attached below)
- 1 book of choice – Summer Reading Packet
(separate document)
Senior English Honors:
- 1 Assigned Book – The Alchemist (attached below)
- 2 books of choice – Summer Reading Packet
(separate document)
Senior English AP
- 2 Assigned Books - (attached below)
- How to Read Literature Like a Professor
(attached below)
-Pride and Prejudice (attached below)
- 2 books of choice – Summer Reading Packet
(separate document) (at least one should be from the
Advanced Placement reading list/ classical)
AP reading list:
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
All the Pretty Horses
All My Sons
Antigone
As I Lay Dying
Beloved
The Brothers Karamazov
Candide
Ceremony
The Color Purple
Crime and Punishment
2
Cry, the Beloved Country
Emma
The Eumenides
Fathers and Sons
The Glass Menagerie
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Heart of Darkness
Henry IV
The Homecoming
Invisible Man
Jane Eyre
King Lear
The Little Foxes
Long Day’s Journey into Night
The Mill on the Floss
Major Barbara
Moby-Dick
Mrs. Warren’s Profession
The Oresteia
Our Mutual Friend
Persuasion
The Piano Lesson
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A Raisin in the Sun
Romeo and Juliet
Sons and Lovers
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Stone Angel
The Tempest
Tom Jones
Washington Square
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Summer Reading Assignment - English 4 and English 4 Honors
The Alchemist (ISBN 9780061122415 -only)
By: Paulo Coelho
Due: before or on the first day of school
All senior English sections will be reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Please purchase
the paperback with the ISBN # 9780061122415 ONLY! There is another paperback novel, by
another author, also entitled The Alchemist, and I would not want your student purchasing or
reading an incorrect work. All students who purchase the ISBN # above will be encouraged to
donate their paperbacks for extra credit, when we finish with the novel (regardless of notations or
writing in the text.)
The study guide includes 8 assignments, each with 10 questions. Please use the following
guidelines to complete the summer reading assignment:
1. Computer generate (if you DO NOT have access to a computer during the summer, you
may hand write your answers, but please compose neatly on wide-rule paper.)
2. Use a MLA heading.
3. Separate your answers by Assignment #, for example, Assignment 1, Assignment 2.
4. For each assignment, answer all 10 questions in complete sentences. NO yes, no, or one
word answers will be given any credit.
5. All summer reading assignments are due on the first day back to school in August: NO
EXCEPTIONS!
*Remember, this will be the first grade you receive for the new school year, so I know that you
will all want to start off with an incredible score; however, we will study this novel as an entire
unit, so please read thoroughly.
STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
Assignment 1
Prologue & Part One through "And he vanished around the corner of the plaza."
1. Why does the lake weep for Narcissus?
2. What is the most recent topic of the shepherd boy's comments to his sheep?
3. How does the boy spend his time when the merchant tells him he cannot shear his sheep
until the afternoon?
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4. What does the shepherd claim are "the only things that concerned the sheep"?
5. What had the shepherd's family hoped the boy would become as an adult?
6. What does the shepherd plan to do once he arrives in Tarifa before his anticipated meeting
with the merchant's daughter?
7. Why does the shepherd decide to see the Gypsy woman?
8. Describe the shepherd boy's recurring dream.
9. According to the old man, what is the world's greatest lie?
10. According to the old man, what is the one great truth on this planet?
Assignment 2
"The boy began again to read his book" to the end of Part One
1. Why does the shepherd decide against telling the baker what the old man had said about him?
2. What does the boy see when he climbs the stone ramp that led to the top of the castle wall?
3. What is the "principle of favorability" that the old man speaks of?
4. What happens immediately after the old man tells the boy that he "will have to follow the
omens" in order to find his treasure?
5. What are Urim and Thummim?
6. According to the "wisest of wise men," what is the secret of happiness?
7. What causes the shepherd boy to become distracted and, as a result, lose sight of the young
man who is holding his money?
8. After helping the candy seller erect his stall in the plaza, to what realization did the shepherd
boy come?
9. What does the boy do to earn food to eat?
10. After the owner of the crystal shop tells the boy how expensive it is to get to Egypt, what
does the boy say he wants money for?
Assignment 3
Beginning of Part Two to "I don't even know what alchemy is," the boy was saying, when the
warehouse boss called them to come inside."
1. Why does the boy stay on the job with the crystal merchant?
2. In order to attract more business after working there for one month, what does the boy
suggest that the crystal merchant allow him to do?
3. What are the five obligations outlined by the Prophet in the Koran?
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4. Why didn't the crystal merchant ever go on a pilgrimage to Mecca?
5. What reason does the merchant tell the boy about why he would not go to Mecca now?
6. After another two months of working for the merchant, what idea does the boy have to bring
more customers into the crystal shop?
7. Why does the merchant claim to feel worse than he did before the boy arrived to work for
him?
8. When the boy tells the merchant that he is going to be leaving to return to his country to
buy sheep, he asks for the merchant's blessing. What does the merchant say about the boy's
journey home?
9. Where does the boy decide to go once he leaves the merchant's home?
10. Who befriends the boy on the journey?
Assignment 4
"I'm the leader of the caravan" through "The boy thought of Fatima. And he decided he would go
to see the chiefs of the tribes."
1. How large is the caravan the boy is traveling with?
2. How does the Englishman spend most of his time during the journey?
3. How did the camel driver who befriended the boy come to be in this line of work?
4. Who are the mysterious hooded men who sometimes appeared?
5. What news does the caravan leader learn that causes the members to become more cautious
while traveling, especially at night?
6. What does the Englishman call "the principle that governs all things?"
7. What is the "Emerald Tablet"?
8. What is the liquid part of the Master Work called?
9. What is the solid part of the Master Work called?
10. Who is Fatima?
Assignment 5
"The boy approached the guard" through "'We'll leave tomorrow before sunrise,' was the
alchemist's response."
1. What "omens from the desert" does the boy share with the chieftains of the oasis?
2. Who was the boy who saved Egypt through his interpretations of the Pharaoh's dreams?
3. What decision does the head chieftain make about the boy's visions?
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4. What causes a loud, thundering sound and throws the boy to the ground?
5. According to the man on horseback, what is "the quality most essential to understanding the
Language of the World?"
6. Who is the man on horseback?
7. What is the fate of the commander of the enemy battalion?
8. What words does the alchemist say that echo those of the old king?
9. When riding out into the desert, what does the alchemist instruct the boy to show him?
Assignment 6
"The boy spent a sleepless night" through "I already know how to turn myself into the wind."
1. Before leaving the oasis, where does the boy go?
2. What does the desert come to mean for Fatima?
3. How do the boy and the alchemist find food in the desert?
4. Why is the boy disappointed when the alchemist writes in the sand what is inscribed on the
Emerald Tablet?
5. What is it that the alchemist tells the boy that he has to listen to?
6. According to the alchemist, what is worse than suffering?
7. What is one thing that, according to the alchemist, the boy still needs to know?
8. What do the armed tribesmen find in the alchemist's bag?
9. Why don't the tribesmen take what is in the alchemist's bag?
10. After they are captured by a tribe, what does the alchemist claim that the boy is able to do?
Assignment 7
"On the second day, the boy climbed to the top of a cliff" through "They mounted their horses."
1. What does the desert ask the boy to explain to it?
2. When the desert tells the boy that it cannot help him, who does it suggest that the boy call on
for help?
3. When asked who taught the boy the language of the desert and wind, what is the boy's reply?
4. Who is the third "person" the boy is told to ask for help from?
5. What is the chief's plan for the two men who wanted to end the bet with the boy?
6. How does the sun claim to know about love?
7. According to the boy, why does alchemy exist?
8. Why does the wind "scream with delight?"
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9. What legend did the Arabs recount for generations thereafter?
10. What feat does the alchemist perform at the monastery?
Assignment 8
"I want to tell you a story about dreams" through the Epilogue
1. Describe the dream the alchemist tells to the boy.
2. What did the centurion say that was remembered for all time?
3. What warning does the boy's heart whisper as he is about to climb a large dune?
4. What does the boy see when he finally reached the top of the dune?
5. As the boy wept at the sight that beheld him, what does he notice in the sand?
6. What does the boy do when he sees the omen?
7. Describe what happens when the refugees from the tribal wars approach the boy.
8. What piece of advice does the leader of the refugees give the boy before he leaves?
9. How does the boy finance his journey back to Spain?10. What does the boy find beneath the
sycamore tree in the ruined church?
Summer Reading Assignment- English 4AP
How to Read Literature Like a Professor (ISBN # 9780060009427 - only)
By: Thomas C. Foster
Due: before or on the first day school
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster contains 27 chapters which
instructs students on the various techniques for a greater and deeper understanding of all
literature. You are to approach the study of this work as if it were a secondary text book. There is
no plot, nor are there any characters.
Your task in reading this work is to annotate within the text. Yes, I want you to write on the
pages of the book. Use Post-it flags or notes to indicate any principles that you may question (?),
whatever you feel is extremely important (+), or concepts that you just cannot understand (-).
On paper, from each chapter find at least 3 points that you believe are worthy of in-class
discussion or debate and be prepared to discuss/defend your opinion.
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Pride and Prejudice (ISBN # 9780393976045- only)
By: Jane Austen
Due: before or on the first day of school
*Remember, this will be the first grade you receive for the new school year, so I know that you
will all want to start off with an incredible score; however, we will study this novel as an entire
unit, so please read thoroughly.
*Below is a list of essay questions. Choose any THREE of these questions and compose a one
full page computer-generated response. Use a MLA heading for the first question you answer
and paginate the following pages just as you would for a formal essay. Use the number of the
essay question to identify your response, and use the prompt as your thesis statement.
1. Consider the novel’s title; which character best represents the aspect of pride and which the
aspect of prejudice? In what way does the title also represent more than individual characters?
2. Support or refute the following statement with incidents from the story: Family ties are more
important than good manners and social position.
3. Contrast Charlotte’s and Elizabeth’s attitudes toward marriage. Given the social climate of the
times, which one do you think is the more realistic? Cite incidents from the story to support your
answer.
4. Many critics believe Austen demonstrates that good manners are necessary to form good
social relationships. Do you agree or disagree? Support your answer with events from the story.
5. Support or refute the following statement by referring to the text: Elizabeth is attracted
to Darcy because of his wealth and would not marry him if he were a poor military officer.
Below is a list of tentative titles that will be studied. Some are Seton loaned (*).
Other novels will be assigned on Seton loan.
144
144
144
144
144
144
144
Eng
4 AP
Eng
4AP
Eng
4AP
Eng
4AP
Eng
4AP
Eng
4AP
Eng
4AP
Literature and Composition
Barron's English Literature and
Composition
How to Read Literature Like a
Professor (*)
Importance of Being Earnest (*)
1984
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Pride and Prejudice-Summer
Reading
9780-312-388065
?
9780764146961
$9.31
006000942X
$14.99
158049580X
$4.00
9780451524935
$9.99
0345361792
$7.99
9780393976045
?